


Something's Gone Terribly Wrong, When I Realized You're All I Wanted

by bigsweatersandcuddleweather



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, M/M, Multi, OT4, OT5, Prank Wars, Uni AU, zianourry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:43:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigsweatersandcuddleweather/pseuds/bigsweatersandcuddleweather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uni! au where Zayn’s their roommate, and they can’t help but not try and kill him because he’s the reason that they can’t share a room, until one of their pranks nearly kills him</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something's Gone Terribly Wrong, When I Realized You're All I Wanted

"Why don’t you pick up your crap Malik?" Liam huffed, shocking aside the textbooks that lined the floors, as said boy lounged on his bed, headphones dangling from his hands as he immersed himself in the book at hand.

"because that’s my part of the room. As in don’t fucking touch Payne." he snapped, trying to ignore the way the people next door were playing loud folksy music, knowing it was just a ploy to get him riled.

"It’s called stop being such a pig and grow the fuck up."

"Why don’t you fuck off, you arse." Zayn snapped, reaching out for his snapback and pulling it down over his mussed hair, shoving his feet into his favorite boots before heading out, making sure to flip Liam off as he slammed the door behind himself.

"Fucking arse." Liam muttered, half heartedly, plopping down on his bed.

"So Li-Li, how goes it with our favorite resident badboy?" Harry’s perfect timing stopped him from nodding off, letting out a whoosh of air as the tall man pressed the air out of him.

"He’s suck a fucking prick." he mumbled, shaking his head and watching as Niall and Harry waded through the junk on the other side of the room to take up on the unmade bed.

"That is extremely hot and who we all want to shag." Niall said, pressing a kiss to Louis’ s cheek as said boy tossed his schoolbag on the desk.

"But he’s a complete arse. Prick." Louis grumbled, returning Niall’s affection.

"He’s probably not that bad Lou." Harry said, shaking his head.

"Yes he is. He’s the reason that all four of us can’t share a room." He grumbled, still angry that the attractive tan lad had gone against him, actually defied him because he wasn’t used to that.

_It had been the first day of classes, all of them excited to be back together from spending so much time apart, with their own families. They had requested a room with all four of them, putting the request in early last year and getting the approval they needed. But when they came into the room there were four beds, and a tan lad already unpacking his things._

_"Excuse me, I think you’ve got the wrong room mate." Niall said, walking forward, stopping completely when those big eyes turned to look up at him from under the prettiest eyelashes that he’s seen on a boy, or anyone for that matter._

_"No…this is room 344, right?" His voice was soft, slightly shy as he glanced at the paper set to one side, peaking their curiosity as tattoos peaked from under covered skin._

_"Yes."_

_"Then I’ve got the right room. ‘M Zayn." He held out a slender hand, trying to break out of his normally recluse shell but they didn’t’ care, glancing at each other._

_"He’s right. I’m in 346." Harry said, frowning down at the piece of paper in his hand._   
_“That can’t be right. We all specifically asked to be dormed together. What did you do?” Liam turned to Zayn who looked surprised, eyes getting impossibly bigger as he held his hands up._

_"Nothing. I don’t even know you guys, why would I care who you dorm with? I just went to the room with my name on it." He snapped, announced that he hadn’t even been there for five minutes and people were already jumping down his throat._

_"Then switch. Trade with Harry." Louis said. Grabbing Harry’s paper and holding it out the the brunette who raised an eyebrow at the demand._

_"No." The word floored all of them, especially louis. Nobody ever said no to Louis, even if they had no idea who he was. He had a reputation on campus as the one in charge and nobody fucked with him._

_"Excuse me?" He asked, taking a threatening step in his direction but zayn wasn’t backing down. He did not go through months of Danny putting him through boxing torture to bow down to this punk."_

_"You heard me. I said no. What’re you going to do about it?" He said, not backing down from the sets of glares sent his way. Louis glared at him for another moment before huffing and stomping out. His boyfriends on his heels as he strode down to administrations._  
 _But they were no help, because unless Zayn, the annoying git, said he wanted a room change they couldn’t physically kick him out of the room, so Harry moved into the room next door, Niall joining him a week later when his roommate, Nick transferred. But they never forgot their encounter zayn, as Liam and Louis still shared a room with him, and made sure to push his buttons each and everyday, as small paybacks._    
~~~~~~~~~~  
“Dude, seriously, can you stop the fucking music already? It’s three in the fucking morning.” Zayn’s mussed head popped up from under the covers, glaring at Liam with restless eyes, hair falling in his eyes as his shirt fell over sharp collars, jutting with the sharp contrast of the black exotic ink marring his skin. Liam was caught unaware for a moment, before snapping out of it and offering a sly grin.

"No, I don’t think I will. It helps me concentrate." he smirked at the muffled curses. It was a few minutes before Zayn spoke again, rolling out of bed and stumbling over to his stereo, poking at it until the music shut off abruptly.

"What the fuck man?" Liam was immediately in his face, chest to chest, abruptly aware of how much smaller the tan boy, his hands could probably wrap around his tiny waist, thumbs pressing into the v’s of his waist.

"Dude, I’ve got a fucking class in three hours. Enough, cut the shit out." he glared, trying to seem big but he was tired, so bodily exhausted.

"Well too fucking bad. I don’t have a fucking class tomorrow and I want to listen to my fucking music. What the fuck are you going to do about it?" Liam taunted, poking at the red tatted skin in the shape of lips, hard. 

"What the hell is your problem you asswipe? Ever since I’ve gotten here  you and your cronies have been nothing but proper dicks to me. I get that I took the room that your little bitch wanted but what the fuck did you want me to do? I can’t move when that shit is already done. Get over it you douche." his hands pressed to Liam’s built pecs, shoving him away.

"Don’t ever put your hands on me." Liam was towering over him, grabbing his wrists in one hand, a hard set on his face, so domineering, scary even.

"Then just stay the fuck out of my face and I’ll do the same." Zayn snarled, pulling away from the stronger grip.

"Fine. You can leave and I’ll keep listening to my music." Liam said with a grin, setting up his iPod dock and cranking up the music even louder.

"Why can’t you go to one of your boyfriends rooms?" Zayn growled, tugging at his hair in anger.

"Because their sleeping and I don’t want to bother them." he said simply, shrugging his shoulders as if it was nothing.

"Whatever. I can’t fucking stand this childish bullshit." Liam pretended to be immersed in his book as he heard the dim grumblings and then the door slam shut, jarring his walls. He snickered to himself but part of his gut was telling him that he was being a prick. Zayn hadn’t really been at fault, all of them had kind of ganged up on his the moment he stepped into his room, telling him that he had to find somewhere else to go. Of course he was going to get defensive. 

Liam only lasted another hour with the toiling guilt in his gut before groaning under his breath, tossing aside the covers and shutting off the music, setting out to find the tan boy and apologize.  He didn’t have to far, stumbling across something as soon as he opened his door, eyes adjusting to the dimly lit hall and on the huddled figure curled up in front of his door, hair poking out from the comforters, fast asleep despite the hard floor. Liam sighed, rubbing at his face, the guilt absolutely consuming him.

"Alright, I feel like a complete jackass. Come on." he bent forward, peeling the blankets off, with minor difficulties, carefully maneuvering the smaller lad into his arms, carrying him back to his own bed, bringing the blankets back over his shivering shoulders. He lingered for a moment, his fingers tracing the line of the thin brow, before shaking away the trance he was sucked in, tucking himself back into his own bed.

When he woke up the next morning when he woke up to an empty bed he thought nothing of it, until he tried to get out and ready for the day, realzing that he had been taped t his bed.

"Fucking prick." he murmured. If he wanted to play that game, Liam was more then ready to play.

~~~~~~

It was Louis that planned the next attacks, immediately riled up after he found Liam taped to his bed, when said boy didn’t meet the rest of his lovers for breakfast like he normally did.

"We have to retaliate. If he misses with one of us, he messes with all of us." Louis said, Niall nodded in agreement, but Harry and Liam seemed most hesitant, glancing at each other in wariness. Louis tended to go…too far sometimes.

"Positive. We need to teach that little punk to fuck off. Now, where’s your icy hot Li? And where does he keep his washing things?" the evil mastermind began searching, smirking when he found what he was looking for, and completely ignoring their warning as he melted the icy hot in the microwave in his room, slowly tipping it into the bottle of expensive shampoo, setting it back where he found it.

"Louis, that’s not going to hurt him…is it?" Harry asked nervously ruffling his hair.

"No, but it will be extremely uncomfortable." they didn’t know what he meant but they found out a few hours later as Zayn came out of the bathroom with red eyes and his head wrapped tight in his towel.

"Fucker. I don’t know what you guys did to my shampoo but you better watch your backs." he snarled at the laughing lads piled in his room, glaring with such animosity that they were taken back for a second, before they relaized they were supposed to hate him as well.

"Bring it bitch." Louis said, cocking his head.

He was the next to be hit, waking up one morning a few days later only to find parts of his bodied colored, in bright reds and purples, even on his face. He glanced at his bed, noticing the empty kool aid packs and realized they had been sprinkled in his bed when he didn’t even notice. 

They retaliated with holes cut around the crotch of all Zayn’s favorite sweaters, forcing him to do everything in jeans, and even going so far as to cut holes in those. 

He attacked Niall next, glueing his precious supras to the ceiling, and laughing at Niall’s attempts to ‘murder him. He woke up with his hand glued to his hair the next morning, forcing him to get a haircut that was shaggy, and it only seemed to make the girls fall even more in love with him, much to their dismay.

He returned with throwing all of their things out a window and gluing their boxers together, making it into a flag that hung outside of their dorm, the bright ones arranged in the middle to artfully portray a dick. And then he spraypainted their names all over it.

As the pranks wars toiled on Liam and Louis found themselves sleeping in Niall and Harry’s room more and more often, nervous to even sleep in the same room as Zayn and he found it lonely, laying awake in the big bed, actually missing all of their loudmouth remarks.

The next prank was the one that ended them all, going farther then any of them had anticipated on going, the whole war lasting longer then they intended it to be, more then a month.

Zayn didn’t know how he woke up in the quad, still on his bed, but the rain pelting down on his face in fierce torrents jarred his sluggish mind from it’s drugged stupor. He stumbled to his feet, dragging his blankets, but abandoning them when he realized how soaked they were. He remembered sitting on his bed, sipping at a hot chocolate while reading nearly two hundred pages of his book for his english lit class, only getting up to use the loo before coming back, but getting so so tired…the hot chocolate. He shook his head, leaning against walls as he climbed the stairs up to his floor, clothes slipping on his loose frame, the basketball shorts sticking to his scrawny legs, bare and already aching. He pulled the sheer white shirt away from his torso, walking slowly back to his room, ready to accede defeat. The lads were sitting around Louis’s t.v, barely pausing the game as he came in, but they did once they glanced at his state, dripping soaking wet, shoulders slumped and shaking fiercely.

"I’m done." he said softly, looking at all of them from under his fringe.

"What do you mean by done?" Niall asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I mean done as in you win, alright? This…this is going too far. A prank war in one thing, but I didn’t think that my roommates would go as far as drugging me and then leading me out in the rain, where anyone could have taken me, but I guess you don’t have an real morals." the beat down look on his face tugging at all of their guilt, the one that had been pestering them the second they heard the thunder crack down.

"Zayn, we-" Harry cut himself off, because what could he really say to make it better.

"I’m going to down to the head tomorrow to see if we can switch, if not then I’m just going to call my mate and stay at his. Then I’ll transfer out." he turned to go, 

"No, no Zayn you don’t have to do that.” Louis said, biting on his bottom lip, watching as the smaller boy just stood there, looking down at his bare feet, slowly turning blue from the freezing weather, right hand clutching at his left elbow and looking so much more fragile, shoulders quivering.

"There’s not much else I can do. I just…I don’t know what I did to make you guys hate me so much, but I’m sorry." limping over to his dresser to grab some warm clothes. But he didn’t come back. They sat around and waited for him to make an appearance, so that they could apologize and grovel but the door remained shut.

"I think we really fucked up guys." Louis admitted, getting  three slaps in the back of his head, in a duh move.

"Alright, alright I get it." he grumbled, sprawling across his own bed, Niall cuddled into his side as Liam and Harry spooned in the bed across from them.

"I don’t think there’s anything that we can do. I mean, the lad looked wrecked. Fuck, hate this guilty feeling." Niall grumbled, punching the air in aggravation.

Well we just gotta wait for him to come back. I mean, he has to come back eventually.” 

"To what? His mattress is out there getting completely soaked." 

"Fuck, come on Lou, let’s go out and get it." Harry said, unfolding himself from Liam’s arms and jogging out the door, Niall following after tossing his phone to Louis. When they did come back, completely drenched they propped the piece of furniture against the wall in the hall, and drying up, joining their lovers back in bed, all of them falling as they waited for Zayn to come back, but he didn’t."

~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of bile hitting the toilet stirred Liam from his sleep, eyes trailing to the flash of light coming from the ajar bathroom door. Glancing up reassured him that Niall was still safely in his bunk,  the other two across the room soft snores whispering in the darkness, and the empty makeshift pile of blankets across the room told him exactly who had been there. He tried to ignore it as well as the way his conscious was screaming at him to do something but there were sniffles and then muffled coughing as he made his way back out of the bathroom, attempting to be quiet as he tiptoed to his own corner, stumbling over his crap until he made it safely back to his sanctuary, easing onto the floor with a groan, the covers going over his head.

He wanted to ignore it, pretend that Zayn was just not sleepy but the rough coughs made his own throat hurt so they must’ve been tearing the dark haired boy’s lungs to shreds. Liam watching him toss and turn for nearly an hour after, before he fell asleep, so lost in watching the shadowed covers shift every few seconds.

It was Louis that woke him up next, hovering over him with furrowed brow.

"What’s wrong Lou?" Liam whispered voice hoarse and rough with sleep.

"Zayn keeps trying to hack up his lungs." he said, not annoyed but worried, chancing a glance back at the huddled mass on the floor, little tufts of black hair peeking out from the covers.

"Zayn’s a big boy Lou. He can take care of himself."

"Liam." Louis huffed, tugging on his hair. "That’s our fault. Now we have to help him." a pleading edge to his words.

"Fine. Go and find him some aspirin then. And might as well get a thermometer." he mumbled, throwing off his covers and Louis hustled out of the room, washing up quickly before walking silently over to Zayn who seemed to be half asleep, shivers wracking through him, making the little ball that he was shiver every few seconds.

"Zayn? Hey, Zayn." he just got a moan and the thin sheets wrapped tighter around the curled up figure, his own blankets still hanging on the mattress in the hall. Liam was careful as he kneeled beside him., gently tugging the sheets until the tufts of dark hair gave way to a scrunched forehead and furrowed eyebrows aching in on delicate eyelashes that swept over perfectly carved cheekbones, so devastatingly fragile and strong that he felt the greatest urge to see if they tasted as good as they looked. He pushed the thought away, watching in awe his little upturned nose and puffy red pout emerged, completing the perfect face that he had never actually seen this upclose.

"Liam." a hand slapped the back of his head and he whipped around to Niall and Harry who were looking at him with questioning looks, Louis silently laughing in the corner.

"Oh shut it. He’s sick. Louis, did you bring me the thermometer?" he asked, Louis nodding.

"But, how are you going to give it to him, without waking sleeping beauty?" Niall asked, taking a seat on the floor right by Zayn’s feet.

"Gotta take that risk then. I’ll do it." Harry said, taking the thermometer from his petite lover and walking through the clutter to Zayn’s head.

"Zayn. Hey Zaynie. We gotta take your temperature babe. Okay?" Harry asked in a whisper, right his ear. All he got was a moan in return, followed by a somewhat nod.

"Alright, you gotta open your mouth then." there was no acknowledgement. Harry sighed, taking his pinkie and softly running it along Zayn’s surprisingly soft slightly chapped bottom lip, wedging it closer until he he pried the lips apart a little before inserting the little bulbous end under his tongue and clamping the well shaped jaw shut. His hands lingered on his forehead, flinching back at the warmth that slammed into his palm, spreading across his senses like a fire.

"He’s definetly got a fever. Let’s see how bad." Harry said with a sigh, glancing at the others.

"Niall get a bowl with some cold water and add some ice and a clothe as well. Liam’s can you get the extra blankets from my bunk. We have to break his fever but keep him from overheating." Louis said, ever the nurse among them. The both returned with the items, handing them to Louis who tucked the blankets around Zayn’s narrow shoulders and waited for Harry to pull the beeping thermometer from the very pretty pink lips.

"38.9"

"Alright, move aside babes. Don’t want you getting sick as well." He ushered them a safe distance away, dipping the towel in the frigid water and the wringing it out before draping it over Zayn’s flush head and smiling inwardly at the small whimper of relief that it brought.

"I’m gonna go see if they sell soup down in the caf." Harry said, Liam offering to go with him. Niall didn’t say anything, merely stepping over Louis and carefully crawling up the bed until he was hovering over Zayn, nudging him slightly so that he could wedge himself between the feverish body and the wall, putting an arm around his bulk covered body and another arm below his pillow.

"What are you doing Ni?" Louis asked when he actually settled.

"Cuddling him. Duh. Everybody loves to be cuddled when they’re sick."

"Niall, we hardly know him. How do you kn-" his words cut off as Zayn sniffled, sidling closer the the source of explainable heat and practically curling into Niall’s side, sighing into the crook of the blonde haired lad’s neck.

"You were saying Lou?" he asked with a faint chuckle that Louis just grinned at. Their little Irish man, always right.

"Hey Zayn, you thirsty?" Niall asked, hands running gently through the soft dark hair as Zayn hummed, practically purring at Niall’s subtle movements.

"He’s like a kitten." Niall murmured, free hands trailing under the covers and over Zayn’s feverish back, rubbing soothing circles just like his mum used to do for him, smiling as Zayn melted, falling limp in his grip, fists letting of his own sleeves in exchange for grabbing onto Niall’s sweater and burrowing closer to his comfort.

"Let him sleep for a bit." Louis said, but he also reached over and tugging at the hairs at the nape of Zayn’s head gently, pulling back with big surprised eyes pointed at Louis when Zayn moaned, one filled with want, rather then in pain.

"Well, that was…actually really hot." he admitted, making Niall chuckled silently, stopping as the others walked in, doing a double take when they saw their boyfriend cuddled with their ‘patient.’

"Should we really wake him up?  I mean, he’s so peaceful like this." Niall whined, pouting at his boyfriends until they caved.

"Shouldn’t we atleast move him to a bed, one of ours maybe?" Harry asked, shaking the drop of water from his wilting waterlogged curls. They watched the smaller lad sniffle, burrowing further into Niall’s warmth, he tip o pink tinged nose disappearing in the folds of his sweaters, forehead masked by his soft fringe, looking so unlike the boy they had come to know with his quiffs and annoying tattoos, always studying or mysteriously disappearing and reappearing at different times in the night. He wasn’t tough or withdrawn, he was…vulnerable, and it made the affectionate part of them just want to swaddle him in their grips and keep that part of him safe in them.

"No. Let him sleep this fever off and when his mattress dries we’ll bring it back in." Harry said, tossing off his shirt and stretching out in Liam’s bed, patting the space beside him for the older lad to join in.

"So I guess you’re going to stay there Ni?" Louis asked, cocking an eyebrow at the blonde only to find that he was already dozing, pale cheeks leaning into the dark ink tinted hair, the contrast so heavy but the sight made them all smile softly. At their adorable boyfriend and the practical stranger who had unknowingly weaved a place in their hearts so long ago and their affections for him had started manifesting slowly until it felt too full to the brim. Quietly they got ready for bed, tucking themselves in and not bothering to disturb the peaceful room in the air, the most peaceful the room had felt in the month long war they had waged on their roommate.

With fever flushed cheeks Zayn picked his head up off his pillow and glanced around the room, eyes dilated and unfocused.

” ‘s cold.” he murmured, voice hoarse and sore.

He noticed the bottle of water and paracetamol laying to his side and downed it gratefully, falling back into his makeshift bed and falling back into the black restless sleep that came with fevers, not even noticing Harry sitting off to one side, keeping an eye on him. He walked over to the curled up figure, and drew the covers over his shoulders, tucking them securely to warm him up. The other lads had all darted off to class or footie practices, leaving him to watch their invalid.

He tried to focus on his essay between pressing a hand to the nape of the sick lads neck to check his temperature harry got very little done, deciding that it could wait for another day, but a loud banging on the door jarred him, glancing at Zayn who stirred slightly, mumbling under his breath. Harry jogged over to open the door, surprised at a hand slapping him across the face, then cursing.

"What the hell?" he asked, rubbing at his throbbing cheek, glancing down at the petite blonde girl who was glaring so fiercely at him that he felt the full extent of her hatred, even though he didn’t even know her.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Zayn. What the hell did you do to him you prick?" she was flanked by another girl, who looked equally as annoyed, probably at him, but amused as she watched their friend get worked up.

"He’s sleeping." but stepped aside as she barged through, her friends going after her. He felt like snarling when he saw her crouching by his side, hands touching his face with feather light touches, murmuring things softly, heart clenching when he responded, words barely making it out of his pale chapped lips.

"Why don’t you leave him alone?" he snapped, regretting it the second the wordss caused her to snap her head in his direction, glaring even harder then before.

"You, don’t even fucking speak right now."

"Pez, calm down." the one with blonde and brown in her hair said, stepping forward.

"No, Jade, I wont. These fuckers have been screwing with him the minute he stepped onto this fucking campus. He’s so fucked up because of you and your fucking friends."

"Pezza." the voice was faint,  Harry saw the tan arm reach out, revealing the face that had been hiding under the covers all night, pale, bags stretching down his eyes, dark purple and almost bruised. He was sicker then they thought.

"Yeah, I’m right here Z. Alex is bringing his bigass car and then we’re going to get you out of here. Hey, start packing his stuff up, yeah?" she asked, turning to her friend, Jade who nodded, grabbing his suitcases from one corner.

"Wait, why are you doing that? Where are you taking him?" Harry spoke up, standing his ground even though she looked like she wanted to slap him again, more then once.

"Out of here. Away from you and your asshole friends. He called me last night, coughing up his lungs and told me that he was done here. That’s all he kept saying. He’s done, done done. And I finally got him to tell me what happened. How sick can you be to do that to him? You’ve already got everybody on campus blacklisting him, he can’t join a club or a team without everyone glaring at him like he’s a leper. And the other day some asshole stole all his clothes from his locker and wrote fag on his locker. I don’t know what the fuck he did to you but he didn’t deserve that. At all. No human does but especially not Zayn. God, I really just wanna knock you out right now." she huffed, steam practically blowing from her ears.

"You’re not the only one Perrie, but calm your tits." they were joined by a well built lad in a leather jacket and beanie, leaning against the door. Harry assumed this was Alex with the bigass car.

"Look, we had some differences but I would never let anyone call him a fag, let alone do it myself. That’s kind of hypocritical to me and my boyfriends. I don’t know why people are doing that to him but I’ll make sure it stops." he said, practically pleading as Perrie shook her head, still looking as disgusted as she had before. And he didn’t blame her. If Zayn was really going through all that then he didn’t blame her at all. He would be disgusted with himself as well.

"Please, I don’t want him to leave like this? With us at odds like this. I want to be able to apologize and beg for him to forgive me."

"It’s too late for that."

"No it isn’t. Just-" a hacking cry diverted their attention away from their shouting match and to Zayn, just in time to see his eyes roll into the back of his head, the whites watching them ominously,  and watch as his body dropped from raised elbows to completely limp and still. Alex by his side immediately.

"Perrie get in the car. He’s having trouble breathing! We need to get him to a hospital right now!" Alex was listening to his heart, fingers at his veins. Perrie got noticeably paler but nodded, grabbing Jade’s hand and running out of the room. Harry felt couldn’t breath himself, forcing himself forward as Alex gathered the frail boy in his arms.

"Move out of the way. You’ve done enough damage." he snapped, shoving past him and out the door, parting the crowds that gathered around them. The last view of Zayn he saw was his hand, hanging  off Alex’s shoulder, the peace sign flashing in his mind again and again as he tried to breath, wondering why his heart felt like it was breaking and shattering into dust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hazza? Are you alright? What happened? I heard a bunch of people talking about the kid who died in our room. Are you alright?" Niall barged in, still in his sweaty kit, bundling Harry in his arms as soon as he made sure his lover was alright, Harry could feel his heart beating erratically against his chest.

"Yeah…no. It was Zayn. They..they-" he choked on his breath, clinging to Niall as his tears boiled over, spilling white searing hot against his cheeks, still replaying what he had seen a few minutes ago, trying to understand how so much had happened in the space of what felt like only seconds.

 

"Hey, ssh. Calm down babe. It’s alright. Calm down." Niall hummed, pressing kisses to his neck and running a hand through his hair. harry was normally way taller then him but his younger lover bent forward, seeming as small as he felt, wanting nothing more then to hide away in Niall, away from his own guilty thoughts.

"No. it’s not okay. Zayn was sick, been sick for weeks. He- he couldn’t fucking breath. And then he- it was so scary. He just went limp, eyes rolled into the back of his head. I don’t- what did we do Ni?" he sobbed, trying to catch his own breath. Niall hushed him softly, trying to take in what his hysterical boyfriend was telling him. What had they done?

"Come on Haz. Wipe that pretty face. We’re going to go to the hospital and fix this mess. Make sure that Zayn is alright." he said, pulling Harry away to wipe under his swollen eyes until he nodded, letting go so that Niall could pull off his kit and pull on a pair of sweats and heading out, texting Louis and Liam what had happened.

At the hospital the receptionist sent them down a hall, straight into a room where they saw Zayn laying in a hospital bed, looking far too small and…breakable, limp against the white sheets, eyelids nearly translucent as they fluttered with each labored breath.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" a pissed voice hissed, stomping right up to them. Harry flinched away from her but Niall held his ground, glaring right back.

"It’s not against the law to visit someone in the hospital. We wanted to make sure that he was alright." Niall snapped, annoyed at the blonde. He knew that she was close to Zayn, having gone through his stuff one day and seen her and a group of other people in photo albums, with cheesy grins and a comradeship he knew that he would probably never have with the tan angelic face.

"Not if your part of the fucking reason he’s here. Don’t take another step blondie." she hissed as he tried to walk around her.

"Oh piss off. I want to see if he’s fine."

"You can see that he’s obviously not, why don’t you fuck off mate." the tattoed lad wearing a beanie made him stop and eye him warily.

"Aren’t you that lad from that band…The Cab?" he asked, cocking a head.

"Yeah, what’s it to you?" he growled, stepping in front of Perrie who huffed and walked beside him.

"Look. we’re not here to cause any problems-"

"You should’ve thought about that before throwing his bed out into the quad." they stepped aside just as a steel sharp tone made them flinch, turning to the petite brunette stepped through the door, tattoos crawling up her arm, hair pulled into a bun, a bandanna wrapped around it and seeming everybit like the female Zayn, with her leather jacket and dark jeans, a cigarette tucked behind one ear.

"Who are you now?" Harry asked, cocking his head.

"Of course. Ofcourse you wouldn’t notice anyone not in your clique. I’m only a girl in three of your classes and Zayn’s friend. And you need to get out of here before i knock your teeth out. Or better yet, before Danny and Ant get here and do it for me." she said,making sure they could feel her glare even as she turned around, walking toward Zayn who was stirring slightly, head turning in one direction, mumbling incoherently before falling silent again.

"What did they say?" Cher asked Perrie who glanced at Alex with a sigh.

"Pnemonia. Been manifesting for weeks. It was really bad. They said it wouldn’t have been as bad if he wasn’t so weak and malnourished. But he is, got no strength. Bruises all over his body as well. He’s been jumped…again." she said softer, shooting a glare at the two lads infiltrating their midst, they didn’t belong there. Not now, and not ever.

"Is this it? Niall. Harry!" Louis came barreling through the door, running straight to them with arms wide open, engulfing them in a hug with Liam right behind him.

"How is he?" Liam asked as soon as they all pulled away.

"Why the fuck do you care you fuckers? You’re part of the reason he’s in this place. Why couldn’t you just leave him alone? It’s your fault he’s been getting jumped by your asshole friends every other week, coming to work with bruises and bandages covered in blood. He didn’t do anything to you because he’s so gone over you asses and you still felt the need to bring him down and trash his stuff, and he’s been on edge for so long, waiting for another attack from you lot."

"And then you drugged him. He could have died. He was sick and your giving him some random pills on top of that. I just…fuck you. Fuck you guys. You’ve fucked over my best friend and your the reason he’s in the hospital." she hissed, appearing so intimidating that they didn’t even notice that she barely came up to their shoulders.

"We didn’t mean any of it. It started out kind of mean spirited, we got off on the wrong foot, but it just became a game of who could top the other. We never ever meant to hurt him."

"Yeah, and we wanted to apologize as soon as he came back yesterday but we never got the chance."

"And you wont. He’s going to stay in my flat with me after this. That’s it. And you better stay the hell away from him." Cher snapped, reaching for a slender hand, tracing over the bird tattoo on his soft skin. She should have done something earlier, taken charge because lord knows that Zayn, the lovesick bastard wouldn’t have done it at all, not when he was harboring more then hate toward these lads.

"Pezza." the soft murmur dragged all their attention. Zayn’s eyes were fluttering softly, breathing deeply that set off a coughing fit that rattled his small frame, pushing the oxygen mask off as he covered his hand, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

"Hey, calm down there mate. Don’t want to hack an organ right now." Alex eased him back onto the covers with a hand cupping the back of his neck. Surreptitiously he dragged the oxygen mask over those chapped lips, running a hand through his hair.

"How are you feeling Zee?" he asked, the two girls gravitating to his bedside. He shrugged, eyes unfocused and taking deep breaths.

"Sore. Cold…hot? Tired." unsure and faint, reaching out slowly, tentatively.

"You’re such an idiot Malik. Working yourself nearly to death. You should’ve been resting you asshat. And not being thrown out into the rain." Cher’s glare didn’t even phase them as they watched Zayn’s sluggish movements, eyes wide and alert as he tried to take in everything around him. His eyes locked on them, with furrowed brows, words forming on mute lips.

"Leave." but he wasn’t looking at us, he was looking at his friends who seemed just as baffled ash them.

"But…Zee?" Cher asked, shooting a glare at them again.

"No. I mucked this up. Let me fix it. I’m a big boy, I can do it on my own. And don’t you dare tell Dan or Ant. Don’t need them freaking out." he murmured, coughing into the crook of his arm.

"Are you sure? Cause I have no problem kicking their asses." she said, Perrie nodding in agreement.

"No. Thanks babe. I’ve got it." he said, accepting the affectionate kiss she pressed to the side of his head, Perrie doing the same and Alex chuffing him on the side of his arm, all of them making sure that the boys were sufficiently uncomfortable with their stares before closing the door softly behind themselves.

"Zayn, look. We’re so sorry. We really didn’t mean for our pranks to go so far, and get so bad."

"And we really didn’t mean for you to get hurt. At all." Niall cut off Liam’s rambling and pleaded with the brunette, eyes wide and still watery.

"Yeah, I know. It’s okay. I-"he cut off, pressing his face into his arm to cough fiercely, eyes wide and fluttering with dew like tears, gasping for breath.

"I understand. I got in the way of your relationship. I understand. Harry and Niall can move into your room and I’ll stay in their room. It’s fine. I don’t care anymore. I’m ready to put this bullshit behind me already." Zayn said, voice raspy and still trying to suck in enough oxygen to his withering lungs. Louis moved, reaching for the oxygen mask and bringing it over his lips, pressing it there when Zayn shook his head until he took a deep breath and fell against the pillows in relief.

Up close Louis noticed the flecks of amber in his eyes, blinking wide and surprised up at him, delicate eyelashes like a curtain, opening and closing to give glimpses of those intriguing pupils, the sharp jutting cheeks just a short distance and looking like perfectly sculpted peaks in a mountain, reaching for heaven.

"We are sorry though. We didn’t mean to cause you so much grief. We were pricks and just…you didn’t deserve it." Harry chimed in when Louis seemed to overwhelmed to say anything.

" ‘S fine. Can we just forget about it? Forget about this." he said, waving his weak arm in a gesture between him and them.

"What do you mean forget this?" Louis asked, snapping out of his reverie.

"I mean, you don’t know me and I don’t know you. You can stay in your clique and maybe then they’ll leave me alone. I just- yeah. You loeave me alone and I’ll do the same. Alright?" he didn’t waist for an answer, feeling like his heart was tearing because yes these lads had been complete pricks to him but some completely sadistic part of him loved it, because they were paying attention to him, and now that it was over he would be invisible.

A nurse was called as soon as he pressed the small red button, ushering the surprised stuttering boys out of the room and fiddling with Zayn’s i.v until he felt extremely tired, resting his head and falling asleep with the thoughts that he had just lost something really important.

Three Weeks Later

"Are you sure that you want to stay here? Come live in my flat. Craig doesnt’ mind at all." Cher pleaded, walking with Zayn up the stairs to his dorm, one hand around his waist and his around her shoulders. THe doctors had finally declared him pneumonia, his parents dropping him back at school with a final goodbye and Cher insisting on walking him to his dorm. He was still considerably weak and underweight but free of any infections.

"I mind. I can do this Cher. I’m not gonna let them ruin things for me. And thank you but being next to one of my best mates while she shags her fiance isn’t my idea of a good night." laughing as she playfully punched him in the gut.

"Prick. Which room is yours?" she asked, walking down the hall.

"346. Did Pez and Alex bring my stuff in?" he asked, leaning against the walll outside his room while Cher fished around for his key.

"Yeah, those bastards tried to argue or something, saying that they would do it but I wouldn’t put it past them to put bedbugs in your mattress. Now are you sure that you don’t want me to stay?" she asked once against, tossing her shortened hair over one shoulder as he opened the door, glancing around the double room that housed an empty mattress and his stuff set up, comforter spread on the dried mattress, his drawings already pinned up over the walls and books scattered across the desk with a sticky note telling him to study.

"I’ll be fine. Go to Craig. I know you’ve been abandoning him to take care of me. I’ll be fine, go. Please your man." giggling in an extremely unmasculine way as Cher’s nimble fingers attacked his ribs and tickled him till he was wheezing again, her hand patting his back with furrowed brows.

"Fine. Fine. Don’t worry. Now go." he ordered, propping himself on his elbows and grinning as she flipped him off as goodbye. All he wanted to do was lay back in his bed, under his familiar comforter that was home and mom and everything he associated with comfort, kicking off his sneakers and tucking himself in bed he grinned to himself, ignoring the pangs in his gut telling him that there was two other bed and four other breathing bodies missing.

~~~~~~

"Hey it’s the fag." he ignored the pompous voices, making his way across the campus green. It wasnt’ anything new, having to deal with it the past few weeks. Always the same pretentious assholes who were so insecure with themselves that they had to pick on the person that everyone seemed to lust after, not that he actually noticed.

"Aww, I see he didn’t slit his wrists hard enough."

"Maybe next time he will."

"All fags should." raucous laughter followed the ball that slammed into the back of his head, sending him toppling to the floor. He took a deep breath, willing himself not to react, to fly off the bat and launch himself at those assholes.

"Aww, is the poor little boy crying? Do you need your big body guard to come and take care of you?"

"Yeah, where is Cher bear huh? Last I heard she was off with her second bitch. Craig wasn’t it? Damn, that girl can be a slag, running back and forth between these two bitches like them. Think that she might open her legs for areal man like me?" he huffed,sending Zayn’s heart rate to an all new high, turning to the asshole who said that, dropping his books and launching himself at the bastard, clenched fists slamming right into his nose, hearing satisfying crack under his grip. Immediately arms grabbed him, dragging him off before he could land any more fists to his smug face, not angry and caked with blood.

"Oh, the bitch wants to fight?" he came after Zayn, slamming his meaty fists right into his chest, knocking the wind out of him, trying to hunch over and catch his breath but a hand threaded in his hair pulling it back and making him look as another fist crashed into his jaw, sending throbbing pain shooting into his temple,.teaming with his shortness of breath left his head with heavy black spots. He heard their mocking laughs through the cotton in his ears but it all felt like one big buzzing noise.

Just as quickly as it happened the hands were letting him go, but instead of meeting hard concrete he fell into someone’s arm, grip gentle as they turned him over, someone’s finger skimming over his bruises.

"Hey, hey Zayner. Wake up, yeah?" a soft lilt to the familiar accent and he knew who it was immediately, struggling to do as he was told, flinching as his hand came up to rub his eyes, being none to gentle with his injuries.

"Oi, mind that face, would you? I’m kind of fond of it." Niall’s words sent a blush flurrying over his bruised cheeks.

"And if you ever touch him again, I’ll personally make sure us fags show you who your fucking with."

"He’s with us, so fuck off." Harry was steaming, standing over the moaning bodies that were trying to scramble away as he and Liam stood, fists clenched and bruised, glaring at the spectators who were quickly dispersing.

"How long as that been going on?" Louis asked, once Zayn was back on his feet, Niall’s arm around his waist, shaking the mud off of his books.

"Doesn’t matter. I gotta go." He mumbled, trying so hard not to meet their eyes as he whirled around and headed toward his dorm and the sanctuary of his room, free arm wrapped around his aching midsection, favoring his right foot as he hurried away from their confused gazes.

"What the hell was that about?" Harry asked, glancing to the others who looked just as clueless. This must’ve been what Cher had been telling them about, how Zayn had become a social pariah because of them, and guessing from the harsh glares that people were sending his way even as he walked by, shoulders hunched and eyes downward, means that it was worse then they could evev imagine.

"Well fix this. Lou, you and Liam go and set the footie team straight, Haz you go square with the cheerleaders and tennis. Make sure they know Zayn is off limits and of anyone fucks with him then they have to deal with us. I’m gonna check on the little bludger, make sure he’s not getting his head shoved down a toilet." Niall said with an amused little smirk, kissing each of them before sending them off on their separate missions, heading back to the dorms himself.

Standing outside what used to be his and Harry’s dorm he knocked tentatively, shifting from foot to toe until Zayn opened the door, already clad in sweats, big glasses perched on his tiny button nose and a warm rosy tint to his cheeks, drowning in the gray material he was clad in.

"Hey, um, can I come in? I just want to talk." Niall said, pulling away from the same reverie that had enticed Louis and Liam. Zayn looked him up and down skeptically before nodding and stepping aside to let him through, taking the bed opposite him and waiting patiently. Niall saw how his finger danced across his abdomen nervously, wanting nothing more then to slot their finger together, to see those tan skinny fingers clash magnificently with his snow white ones.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. Those pricks were really rough." Niall said, trying to ease the awkward tension in the room.

"Fine. Nothing that hasn’t happened before." Mumbling the last sentence indiscernible, but Niall picked up on it.

"Why didn’t you ever say anything? About those assholes picking on you? We would’ve set them straight." Niall said, frowning.

"I don’t need anyone to fight my battles. And honestly? Because I thought that you were the ones who sent them after me. You never seemed to show any kind of compassion towards me. I mean until that night, when I was sick." he tacked on the last comment, glancing upward at Niall who nodded.

"We were pricks. And…it wasn’t cool. It wasn’t right. And we you were sick because of us, because of what we did. We are sorry. All of us." Niall said, watching as Zayn turned around, nodding to indicate that he heard, limping over to his desk and picking up his phone. Giving a sigh he glanced at Niall and held up a finger, pressing it to his ear.

"Salaam Mama." there was a booming voice on the other end.

“ _Mayn hun jurmaana_.” the foreign language threw the blonde off, eyes trained on the brunette as he had a small slightly embarassed smile, listening to the soft spoken words flowing into his ears.

“ _kaysa hay abbu?_ " he interrupted the stream of commentary flowing through his end, glancing at Niall whose eyes were staring at him in something that made him shiver. His mum continued talking to him until he begged off, tossing his phone back on the bed and turning around just in time to feel hands gripping his narrow waist and surging them both forward until his back hit his desk, wood cutting into the small of his back and pale hands held tight, pink lips meeting teeth worn chap ones, pressing a kiss that was both hungry and gentle, eager to taste and touch and smother and overwhelm.

"That was a much better apology." Zayn breathed out, glancing above askew glasses, heaving slightly for breath, his own hands on Niall’s shoulders, trying to steady his palpitating heart and the emotions in a whirlwind in his gut.

"That wasn’t an apology. That was me wanting to know if kissing you felt the same as imagining it. but it was so much better." Niall reached up with one hand, cupping the side of the sharp jutting face, smooth flawless skin under his roaming thumb.

"What about the others?" Zayn asked, already itching to feel those lips again, hovering so close to each other.

"They know. We- we’ve been feeling things more then friendly toward you for a while, since…since you came. But I didn’t know how bad they were until you were in the hospital. I just…. you were in that bed and you looked…small and it hurt. More then I thought it would." he said with a sigh, his breath spreading over Zayn’s face in a wave of mint gum and some type of energy drink.

"That’s what Cher was talking about. In the hospital. When she told you that I was so gone over your asses. In a sick way I liked the stupid things you did to me because it showed that you were noticing me, and I knew that if I moved out then you wouldn’t be phased by me, but I wanted you to notice me, and it’s sick and masochistic but it made me feel wanted, in a way." Zayn said, feeling ashamed as he looked away, cheeks flaring with red tint.

"Hey, Zayn, don’t feel bad. We didn’t try to get your attention in a great way either." Niall nudged the flaming cheeks until they looked at him, brown eyes that were trying to keep cool when he seemed to be internally freaking out.

"Relax."

"Are you sure that all of you….I mean, feel that way…about me?" he asked, uncertain and stripped vulnerable.

"Yes. All of us."

"You’re not just screwing me around and then say that it was the biggest prank, right?" anxious and unsure.

"Zayn, trust me. I know that we’ve done nothing to gain your trust but do you?" he asked, his hands moving to the narrow waist, pulling him unbelievably close. He could hear how fast his heart was beating against his chest, and it made him wince because Zayn’ genuinely thought that they were going to fucking him over like that.

"Yeah, I can. Alright." he said, with an exhale, leaning his head on Niall’s shoulder as the blonde boy whooped and wrapped arms around him, tacking him onto the bed and fingers digging into his ribs as he laughed the giggles that Niall loved to secretly listen to.

"Okay, when the lads come then we can talk further." Niall said, settling on his side,one arm over Zayn’s waist and the other holding his hand to his chest as Zayn’s free hand went over his neck, a huge grin on his face, bright with his tongue peeking from parted teeth, glancing at him in a way that made his heart stutter, only in a way that he associated with his boyfriends.

"I’m really happy." Zayn said, as if his face couldn’t tell the story.

"Yeah, me too." Niall said, because now he felt whole. He didn’t think that he felt anything missing but having Zayn here right next to him made him feel complete, and he knew the other lads probably felt the things that were in him now.

When the others came in later that evening they finally realized why they had such a fluttering feeling in their guts at the same time, even though they weren’t together, when they saw their blondie wrapped around the smaller Zayn, hands linked and heads pressed together, smiling secretively, breathing in one the other would breath out, in sync.

"Looks like our love got a little bigger." Harry said with an amused chuckle.

"More better. ome on, let’s not wake them up." Louis said, bending over to press a kiss to Niall’s head, then after a slight hesitation on Zayn’s worry free brow, smoothing hair off their faces and drawing the covers over them. Harry and Liam mimicked his actions before they closed the door as they left, going off to do some homework with the same fluttering feeling in their guts and a happiness that was printed on all five faces.

They would need to talk about this when the other two woke up but it seemed like everybody got what they had secretly craved, all they didn’t realize they wanted until it was nearly torn away from them.


End file.
